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French trial of Madonna stage deaths finally begins

Voguerista

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Voguerista

Voguerista 11,915

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I hate that this is going to trial. This is press Madonna doesn't need as they'll make it out like it's her fault. Penny for your thoughts...

French trial of Madonna stage deaths finally begins

It took 11 years, but a trial stemming from the fatal collapse of a stage being set up for a Madonna concert in the southern French city of Marseille finally got underway on Wednesday.

Two workers died in the accident on July 16, 2009 and eight were injured, one of whom committed suicide two years later.

A total of eleven people and corporate entities have been charged with manslaughter, causing unintended injuries and several breaches of the labor law in connection with the accident.

Madonna herself has not spoken with an investigating magistrate because she said she had nothing to do with the technical details of her shows.

The singer did present her condolences to the victim's families.

Three days before she was to perform at Marseille's Velodrome football stadium, the stage's roof collapsed, killing Charles Criscenzo, 52, and Charles Prow, 23.

Giuseppe di Silvestro, who was among those injured, killed himself two years after the accident.

After a 10-year investigation, two postponements and a suspension, the trial began with tribunal president Marie-Pierre Attali underscoring "the need to pay attention to the civil parties and their loved ones, who really need this trial to take place."

She noted that additional delays, in particular owing to the coronavirus, must be avoided at all costs.

Among the 11 defendants are Live Nation France 2006, which organized the concert, the Edwin Shirley Group (ESG) which owned the stage, Tour Concept France which helped set it up, Mediaco, a company that owned a crane implicated in the accident, and Scott Seaton, a British national hired by ESG as a foreman.

He was present Wednesday, as were the head of Tour Concept France, Mathieu Anton, and Gerard Billia, head of Mediaco.

The others were represented by their lawyers.

The trial is expected to last until October 16.

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Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes 5,907

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Nothing in France about it. If you llok at history of stage workers dying on the job you'll see that it happened to a lot of bands and rockstars. Live Nation is the target here and the fact Madonna paid visit to the families then really makes a difference in the way she's been seen in all this.

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Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes 5,907

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In fact the only thing i got in the press about it (the trial has been pushed back a few days because of covid) is how Live Nation uses low wage workers not really qualified for the jobs they hire them for. I hope this trial will change the policies and pressure big companies to not make small profits by  mistreating workers and jeoparzing the safety of the customers. the stage could have collapsed on the audience. It happened years ago during a football/soccer game. No wonder it happened in south of France where people don't really give a shit about the law and act like crooks (not that it's any better anywhere else in the country but south of France really is the worst).

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